Etching process for semiconductors

ABSTRACT

A process for etching semiconductors, such as II-VI or III-V semiconductors is provided. The method includes sputter etching the semiconductor through an etching mask using a nonreactive gas, removing the semiconductor and cleaning the chamber with a reactive gas. The etching mask includes a photoresist. Using this method, light-emitting diodes with light extracting elements or nano/micro-structures etched into the semiconductor material can be fabricated.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/259,299, filed Nov. 9, 2009, the disclosure of whichis incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

This disclosure broadly relates to a process for etching semiconductors.

BACKGROUND

The rapid development of optoelectronics has produced a need for methodsof producing nanometer-sized patterns on semiconductor surfaces.Typically, these patterns are etched into semiconductor substrates by anumber of techniques. For example, wet chemical etching has been used toetch a wide variety of semiconductors. However, wet chemical etching canbe isotropic, thereby limiting the aspect ratio of features that can befabricated, and the uniformity of the process is low. Productionindustries in the optoelectronics industries require more controlledetching procedures than can be achieved using wet etching.

As a result of the shortcomings of wet chemical etching, dry etchingprocesses have been developed for semiconductors. For example, reactiveion etching has been used to produce well-controlled etching profiles insilicon substrates. Reactive ion etching involves generating chemicallyreactive species, such as radicals and ions, via an electric dischargein a low pressure reactive gas mixture in a reactor. The reactivespecies generated in this manner are accelerated towards a substrate bymeans of an electrical field and react with the silicon to producevolatile reaction product which are pumped away. An etch mask can beapplied to the substrate prior to etching to allow the reactive speciesto etch a pattern into the substrate. Because of the nearly verticalfall of the positively-charged reactive species, etching is much sloweron the side-walls of the etched features as the etching progresses intothe substrate.

Hard etch masks that are made of, for example, SiO₂, Si₃N₄, or metalsare well known to those of ordinary skill in the art of semiconductorphotolithography. But these masks are difficult to fabricate since theytypically need to be vacuum deposited in a separate step before thephotoresist is applied. Hard etch masks make the process morecomplicated and add more process steps. Additionally, after etching thehard masks need to be removed by dry etching or wet etching.Furthermore, with many etching chemistries, these materials tend to etchat a rate that is close to that of many II-VI or III-V semiconductorswhich makes their use limited. While reactive-ion etching is very usefulfor semiconductors, such as silicon, that form volatile byproducts whichcan be easily eliminated from a vacuum chamber via pumping, reactive-ionetching is not very practical for II-VI semiconductors since thesematerials do not easily react with reactive-ions and typically do notform volatile byproducts. Dry etching is well-established for patterningmost semiconductor materials. Chlorine (Cl₂) based reactive ion etching(RIE) is widely used in dry etching of III-V and II-VI semiconductorsfor fabricating various optoelectronic devices and detectors. Other gassystems, including Cl₂/Ar, Cl₂/N₂, Cl₂/He, Cl₂/BCl₃/Ar, BCl₃/Ar, BrCl₃,SiCl₄/Ar, CCl₂F₂/H₂/Ar, etc., have also been investigated. However,these reactants and their products are known to be corrosive and toxic.Also, rapid post-etching degradation has been observed when Cl-based RIEis used, due to the corrosion by persistent Cl₂ residues. In thespecific case of cadmium-containing semiconductors, cadmium halides havevapor pressures which are several orders of magnitude too low to providethe basis for useful etching. In the absence of cadmium volatility, themost likely result is the formation of a cadmium-rich material on thesurface of the semiconductor. Therefore, CH₄/H₂ and CH₄/H₂/Ar basedchemistries have been developed and are favored for plasma etching ofCd-containing semiconductors. However, these processes suffer fromseveral drawbacks including extensive polymer deposition, which acts asan etch stop mechanism, rough surfaces, and low etch rates (less than 50nm/min).

SUMMARY

A method for etching II-VI or III-V semiconductors is needed that canetch these substrates rapidly, efficiently, selectively, andeconomically. A method for etching II-VI or III-V semiconductors isneeded that can be used to pattern optoelectronic devices, such as, forexample, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that include such semiconductors.Additionally, a method is needed for producing optoelectronic devicessuch as light-emitting diodes that include light extracting elements ordefined pixels.

A method is provided for etching a semiconductor that includes providinga semiconductor having an etching mask thereon in a vacuum chamber andsputter etching the semiconductor through the etching mask with anonreactive etching gas to remove material from the surface of thesemiconductor and to provide at least one etched surface, removing thesemiconductor with at least one etched surface from the vacuum chamber;and cleaning the vacuum chamber wherein the semiconductor comprises aIII-V semiconductor, a II-VI semiconductor, or a combination thereof.The semiconductor can include a III-V semiconductor, a II-VIsemiconductor, or a combination thereof. The provided method can beuseful for II-VI semiconductors that can include, but are not limitedto, cadmium, magnesium, zinc, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, orcombinations thereof. The provided method can also be useful for III-Vsemiconductors that can include, but are not limited to, aluminum,gallium, indium, arsenic, phosphorus, nitrogen, antimony, orcombinations thereof. The nonreactive etching gas can include, but isnot limited to, argon, krypton, xenon, helium, neon, nitrogen, orcombinations thereof. The provided method includes cleaning the vacuumchamber with a reactive gas.

In this disclosure:

“extraction elements” refers to any type and arrangement ofnano/microstructures enhancing light extraction from self-emissive lightsources such as light-emitting diodes;

“nonreactive gas” refers to a gas that can be used to etch a substrateby physical sputtering. Sputter etching occurs primarily throughphysical bombardment of the surface with energetic species, which candisplace or expel surface atoms via kinetic energy transfer; the activespecies do not substantially react with a substrate and the ejectedmaterial is typically non-volatile;

“reactive ion etching” refers to the process of ionizing a reactive gasin a plasma discharge and accelerating it towards a substrate where thereactive species can chemically react with the substrate to formvolatile species; and

“sputter etching” refers to the bombardment of a substrate with ions soas to remove material from the substrate by transfer of momentum fromthe ions to the material on the substrate; it is differentiated fromreactive ion etching in that the species in the etching gas physicallyremove substrate material by momentum transfer.

The provided method and structures made by the provided method can etchsemiconductors, such as II-VI and III-V semiconductors. The providedmethod is a method that can rapidly, efficiently, selectively, andeconomically etch these materials and can provide optoelectronicdevices, such as light-emitting diodes, that have structures, such asextraction elements, thereon.

The above summary is not intended to describe each disclosed embodimentof every implementation of the present invention. The brief descriptionof the drawings and the detailed description which follows moreparticularly exemplify illustrative embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 a-1 b are side-view schematic drawings of steps in the providedprocess.

FIG. 2 is a side-view schematic drawing of an exemplary semiconductorconstruction useful in the provided process.

FIG. 3 is a scanning electron photomicrograph of the etchedsemiconductor produced in Example 1.

FIG. 4 a is a scanning electron photomicrograph of the etchedsemiconductor produced in Example 2.

FIG. 4 b is a dark field optical photomicrograph of the etchedsemiconductor produced in Example 2.

FIG. 5 a is a scanning electron photomicrograph of photoresist patternsused in Example 3.

FIGS. 5 b and 5 c are scanning electron photomicrographs of etchedsemiconductors produced in Example 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying setof drawings that form a part of the description hereof and in which areshown by way of illustration several specific embodiments. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments are contemplated and may be madewithout departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. Thefollowing detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in alimiting sense.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes,amounts, and physical properties used in the specification and claimsare to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term“about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numericalparameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claimsare approximations that can vary depending upon the desired propertiessought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing theteachings disclosed herein. The use of numerical ranges by endpointsincludes all numbers within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2,2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5) and any range within that range.

The provided process can use conventional etching equipment and can thusobviate the need for special equipment. The provided process usessputter etching instead of reactive-ion etching, and is thus useful onsemiconductors that are not reactive with reactive-ions, for example,semiconductors made from non-silicon materials. In some embodiments,these semiconductors include, for example, III-V semiconductors such as,for example, GaAs, InP, AlGaAs, GaInAsP, or GaInNAs. In otherembodiments the provided process is useful for etching II-VIsemiconductors such as, for example, materials that can include cadmium,magnesium, zinc, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and combinations thereof.An exemplary II-VI semiconductor material can include CdMgZnSe alloy.Other II-VI semiconductors such as CdZnSe, ZnSSe, ZnMgSSe, ZnS, CdS,ZnSe, ZnTe, ZnSeTe, HgCdSe, and HgCdTe can also be etched using theprovided process.

The provided process relates to a method of sputter etching asemiconductor. The semiconductor is provided with an etching maskthereon that resists etching and thereby defines the part of thesemiconductor surface that is etched. Typical etching masks can be madeof hard materials such as SiO₂, Si₃N₄, and metals such as titanium ortungsten. However, masks made of these hard materials are somewhattime-consuming to fabricate (since they must be deposited and thenpatterned using photoresist) and they can be etched by sputter etching,sometimes at rates similar to that of the rate of etching thesemiconductor. Photoresists alone can also be useful as etching masks.Photoresist etching masks can include positive photoresists comprised ofa polymer that becomes soluble in a basic developer upon exposure toradiation, and negative photoresists that cross-link and becomeinsoluble upon exposure to radiation. Exemplary positive photoresistsinclude UV5 photoresist and Shipley 1813 photoresist (both availablefrom Rohm and Hass Electronic Materials, Marlborough, Mass.). Exemplarynegative photoresists include UVN 30 (available from Rohm and HaasElectronic Materials), and FUTURREX negative photoresists, such asNR9-1000P and NR9-3000PY (available from Futurrex, Franklin, N.J.).Photoresists are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art ofsemiconductor lithography. A process for sputter etching II-VI or III-Vsemiconductors using a photoresist etching mask is described incopending application Ser. No. 61/259,289, filed on the same dayherewith.

The semiconductor material can be sputter etched in areas not blocked bythe etching mask by bombardment of the semiconductor surface with ionsof a nonreactive etching gas. The etching gas ions can remove or ejectmaterial (byproducts) from an exposed surface of the semiconductor. Theetching typically occurs on surfaces of the semiconductor that are notprotected by the etching mask. The etching mask can have patternedopenings that, for example, define image pixels or provide patterns forproducing light extractors on the surface of the semiconductor material.The nonreactive etching gas ions can impinge on the surface of thesemiconductor material in a substantially vertical manner. That is, theetchant ions can be configured to strike the surface of thesemiconductor material in essentially a straight line—typically at ornear right angles to the surface of the semiconductor material. Theetchant can remove or expel exposed molecules from the semiconductormaterial by transfer of kinetic energy.

Exemplary nonreactive etching gases (etchants) can include argon,krypton, xenon, nitrogen, or combinations thereof. These gases havelittle or no tendency to react with semiconductor material since theyare substantially inert gases. Thus, they tend to etch by physicalbombardment, transferring momentum to the molecules on the exposedsurface of the semiconductor material. This material then can be ejectedand deposit on other previously etched surfaces, such as the etchedvertical surface of the semiconductor wall. Alternatively, the ejectedmaterial can deposit elsewhere in the vacuum chamber as debris. Thedebris can build up and eventually contaminate the etching process. Itis typically removed periodically by cleaning the vacuum chamber.

It has been found, surprisingly, that etching masks made fromphotoresist can have high selectivity towards sputter etching comparedto II-VI or III-V semiconductors when both are subjected to sputteretching with a nonreactive gas such as, for example, argon. For example,when the photoresist is a negative photoresist, such as NR9-1000P orNR9-3000PY (available from Futurrex, Franklin, N.J.), and thesemiconductor is a II-VI semiconductor such as CdMgZnSe, thesemiconductor has been found to etch at a rate of from 6 to 12 timesfaster than the photoresist. In some embodiments of the providedprocess, the semiconductor can be etched at a rate of greater than about100 nm/min, greater than about 300 nm/min, greater than about 500nm/min, or even greater than about 1000 nm/min. In some embodiments, thephotoresist etching mask can be etched at a rate of less than about 100nm/min, less than about 50 nm/min, or even less than about 25 nm/min. Insome embodiments, the ratio of the semiconductor etch rate to thephotoresist etch rate is greater than about 3, greater than about 6,greater than about 10, or even greater than about 12.

The provided method can be better understood by references to thedrawings. FIGS. 1 a-1 b are side-view schematic drawings of steps in theprovided method. FIG. 1 a is a drawing that includes semiconductormaterial 102 with patterned photoresist 104 disposed thereon. Patternedphotoresist 104 has trenches 103 that expose portions of semiconductormaterial 102. Sputter etching of semiconductor material 102 is performedusing a nonreactive gas. FIG. 1 b shows that after sputter etching,trench 103 has been extended so that a portion of exposed semiconductormaterial 102 that is not covered by photoresist 104 has been etchedbelow the original surface of semiconductor material 102.

The provided method of anisotropic etching of semiconductors can be usedto form etched features, such as, for example, light extractionelements, into semiconductors. In some embodiments, the provided methodcan be used to etch extraction elements that define small pixels indisplays on electronic devices made using II-VI semiconductors. Thesepixels can be very small. For example, the pixels can have a longestdimension of less than about 10 micrometers. The pixels can be separatedby trenches that are about 1 micron. Such exemplary devices includedown-converted light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In other embodiments, theprovided method can be used to form light extractors on the face of LEDsmade from II-VI semiconductors. Such light extractors can increase theamount of light emitted from the LED face. Exemplary light extractionelements are not limited to any types of structures. In someembodiments, light extraction elements can include diffracting orscattering nanostructures as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Publ.No. 2009/0015757 (Potts et al.); structures with risers as disclosed,for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,347,874 and 6,379,016 (both Boyd etal.); and structures such as those disclosed in PCT Pat. Publ. No. WO2008/083188 (Lu et al.). In some embodiments, the light extractionelements can have dimensions as small as about 500 nm.

Typically, argon gas is used as the nonreactive etching gas since ittends to effectively etch II-VI or III-V semiconductors withoutdegrading the semiconductor properties as much as do gases that etch byreactive-ion interaction such as, for example, chlorine gas. However, asdescribed above, unwanted debris can be produced by sputtering ofsemiconductors. These debris can deposit on the interior surfaces of theplasma etching system, and thereby change the electrical properties ofthe system, resulting in an unstable etch rate. Debris can alsopotentially re-deposit on the sample. Thus, when using a nonreactiveetching gas, it is desirable to periodically remove the semiconductorfrom the vacuum chamber, fill the chamber with a reactive gas, such as,for example, chlorine, oxygen, or a combination thereof to react withand volatilize the debris that have accumulated inside of the vacuumchamber. A wide variety of reactive gases and combinations of reactivegases can be used to clean the chamber. These include, for example,chlorine, oxygen, boron trichloride, silicon tetrachloride, andhydrogen. Typically these reactive gases can be mixed with a nonreactivegas such as argon, helium, or nitrogen.

In cases in which it is desired to sputter etch the semiconductor to agreater depth, it may be advantageous to sputter etch the sample to afraction of the target depth, remove the sample from the chamber, cleanthe chamber, and then return the sample to the chamber for furtheretching. This etch-and-clean cycle may be repeated to reach any desiredetch depth.

Objects and advantages of this invention are further illustrated by thefollowing examples, but the particular materials and amounts thereofrecited in these examples, as well as other conditions and details,should not be construed to unduly limit this invention.

EXAMPLES

A II-VI semiconductor color converter layer structure based uponCdMgZnSe alloy was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an InP substrate.The color converter layer structure is shown schematically in FIG. 2,and the layer thicknesses and compositions are shown in Table I below.FIG. 2 is a schematic of color converter layer 200 that includes topwindow 202, absorber 204, and a graded compositional layer 206 thatgradually changes from the composition of top window 202 to absorber204. Embedded in the absorber layer (not shown) are quantum wells thatcapture carriers generated when pump light is absorbed in the absorberlayer and re-emit light at a longer wavelength. Details of colorconverter structures may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.7,402,831 (Miller et al.).

TABLE I Composition of Color Converter Layer Structure Parts Parts PartsParts Thickness Layer Cd Mg Zn Se (μm) Top Window 0.15 0.55 0.30 1.000.50 Grading Layer 0.15-0.29 0.55-0.34 0.30-0.37 1.00 0.25 Absorber 0.290.34 0.37 1.00 1.50

Comparative Example 1 Cl₂ Reactive Ion Etching of a II-VI Semiconductor

A photoresist pattern of ridges was created on the II-VI semiconductorstructure described above using a negative photoresist (NR1-1000P,available from Futurrex, Franklin, N.J.) and conventional contactlithography. The sample was then cleaved into small pieces for etchingas described in the following examples. The etching was conducted in acommercial reactive ion system (RIE, Model PLASMA LAB System 100,available from Oxford Instruments, Yatton, UK).

A small cleaved sample of the II-VI semiconductor with the photoresistmask thereon was put on a Si carrier wafer, loaded into the RIE chamber,and plasma etched using 80 sccm Cl₂, 5 sccm Ar, 75-200 Watts RadioFrequency (RF) power, 1200 Watts inductively coupled plasma power, at apressure of 6 mTorr and an etch time of 4×30 second intervals. Thephotoresist was severely damaged by the Cl₂ plasma etching. The etchingrate of the photoresist was measured as 1000 nm/min. The ratio of theetching rate of the semiconductor to that of the photoresist was 0.19.Thus, the reactive species produced by chlorine reacts with thephotoresist and etches the photoresist much more rapidly than it doesthe II-VI semiconductor.

Example 1 Ar Etching of II-VI Semiconductor with a Photoresist Mask

A sample of the II-VI semiconductor color converter described above wasovercoated with a photoresist mask with stripe patterns using NR9-1000Pnegative photoresist, available from Futerrex, Franklin, N.J. The stripepatterns had dimensions of 2 μm and 100 μm. A small cleaved sample ofthe II-VI semiconductor with the photoresist mask thereon was put on aSi carrier wafer, loaded into the RIE chamber, and plasma etched using5-50 sccm Ar, 20-200 Watts Rf power, 700-2000 Watts inductively coupledplasma power (ICP), at a pressure of 4-30 mTorr and an etch time of 5×60second intervals. Pixel stripes having widths as small as 2 μm continuedto exhibit strong photoluminescence for several months after processing.An identical sample etched with Cl₂ under identical conditions as thosein Comparative Example 1 except that the etch time was 6×30 secondintervals (to allow for cooling of the substrate during the intervals)showed rapid degradation of photoluminescence after one day. FIG. 3 is aphotomicrograph of the semiconductor etched using the argon sputteretching process. The etch profile that was obtained had about a 63degree wall angle. The ratio of the etching rate of the semiconductor tothe photoresist varied from about 6 to about 12 and could be controlledby changing the RF power. Lower RF power increased the ratio butdecreased the speed of etching. The etch rate of the II-VI semiconductorcolor convertor ranged from 300 nm/min to 500 nm/min.

Example 2 Ar Etching of 3 Micrometer Trenches in II-VI SemiconductorMaterial

A patterned photoresist upon on a II-VI semiconductor color converterstructure as described above in Table 1 was made by optical lithographywith NR9-3000PY negative photoresist available from, available fromFuturrex, Franklin, N.J.) was etched using the procedure of Example 1.FIG. 4 a is a scanning electron photomicrograph of the resultantstructure and shows a pattern of trenches 3 μm wide leaving ridgesapproximately 6 μm across. FIG. 4 b is a dark field opticalphotomicrograph showing photoluminescence of the semiconductor ridges.What is observed is a series of emitting “pixels” where thesemiconductor color converter has been left intact (protected duringetching by the photoresist).

Example 3 Ar Plasma Etching of II-VI Semiconductor for Light Extraction

A patterned photoresist upon on a II-VI semiconductor color converterstructure as described above in Table 1 was made as follows.2-dimensional grating patterns with holes or post structures for lightextraction were created in TELR-P003PM photoresist (available fromShipley, Marlborough, Mass.) using interference lithography based upon alaser diode source. The grating had 400-500 nm features on a 1 μm pitch.The patterned photoresist-coated semiconductor was subjected to Aretching under conditions similar to those described in Example 1. FIG. 5a is a scanning electron micrograph of the photoresist pattern with poststructures 400 nm in diameter on the semiconductor before etching. FIG.5 b shows the same view as FIG. 5 a after Ar plasma etching, with thephotoresist still in place. After etching, the remaining photoresist waspyramidal in structure and the semiconductor around the photoresist hadbeen etched leaving conical posts under the resist (the boundary betweenthe residual photoresist and the semiconductor can be seen in FIG. 5 b,roughly two-thirds of the way from the base to the vertex of the conicalstructure). Further Ar etching yielded the pattern in the semiconductorshown in FIG. 5 c. Photoluminescence measurements showed an externalquantum efficiency of 50.4% for the etched sample illustrated in FIG. 5c. Photoluminescence measurements of the planar sample before etchingshowed an external quantum efficiency of 29.7%. This example shows howlight extraction structures on a II-VI semiconductor increase the yieldof the light that is emitted.

Various modifications and alterations to this invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scopeand spirit of this invention. It should be understood that thisinvention is not intended to be unduly limited by the illustrativeembodiments and examples set forth herein and that such examples andembodiments are presented by way of example only with the scope of theinvention intended to be limited only by the claims set forth herein asfollows. All references cited in this disclosure are herein incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of etching a semiconductor comprising:providing a semiconductor having an etching mask thereon in a vacuumchamber, and sputter etching the semiconductor through the etching maskwith a nonreactive etching gas to remove material from the surface ofthe semiconductor and to provide at least one etched surface, removingthe semiconductor with at least one etched surface from the vacuumchamber; and cleaning the vacuum chamber, wherein the semiconductorcomprises a III-V semiconductor, a II-VI semiconductor, or a combinationthereof, and wherein cleaning the vacuum chamber comprises introducing areactive gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma with thereactive gas to volatilize deposits of semiconductor material inside thevacuum chamber.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the etchingmask comprises a negative photoresist.
 3. A method according to claim 1,wherein the photoresist is etched at a rate of less than about 50nm/min.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the reactive gascomprises chlorine.
 5. A method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: returning the semiconductor with at least one etched surfaceto the vacuum chamber after cleaning the chamber; and further sputteretching the semiconductor through the etching mask with a nonreactiveetching gas.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the nonreactiveetching gas comprises argon, krypton, xenon, nitrogen, helium, neon orcombinations thereof.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein thenonreactive etching gas comprises argon.
 8. A method according to claim1, wherein the semiconductor is etched at rate of greater than about 300nm/min.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the semiconductor isetched at a rate of greater than about 500 nm/min.
 10. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the semiconductor etch rateto the photoresist etch rate is greater than about
 6. 11. A methodaccording to claim 10, wherein the ratio of the semiconductor etch rateto the photoresist etch rate is greater than about
 10. 12. An etchedsemiconductor made according to claim
 1. 13. An optoclectronic devicecomprising an etched semiconductor according to claim
 12. 14. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor comprises a II-VIsemiconductor.
 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the II-VIsemiconductor comprises cadmium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, tellurium,or combinations thereof.
 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein thesemiconductor comprises a CdMgZnSe alloy.